Life afloat

Southeast Alaska anglers are treated to eye-popping scenery as they boat out from Sitka, throught the islands, to fish for salmon and halibut in the ocean.
(Rich Landers / The Spokesman-Review)

How did they survive? It is a miracle. The will to live and the ability to stay calm – and sing – may have helped one young Alaskan fisherman stay alive for 26 hours after his fishing boat capsized and dumped him and his friend into the frigid waters off the Alaskan coast.

Ryan Harris sang and gave himself pep talks, saying for four hours, “I'm Ryan Hunter Harris and I'm not going to die here.”

He worried about his friend, Stonie “Mac” Huffman, who managed to find and put on a survival suit that was floating amid the wreckage. Once Huffman “washed” up onto shore, he notified rescuers. Two hours later Harris was found – alive.